Table 1.

Clinical, histopathological, and molecular data of the seven patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) enrolled in the study. The calculation of total symptoms (itching, tearing, photophobia, and foreign body sensation) and signs (hyperemia, mucous discharge, papillae, and corneal features) scores were as described in detail in Methods. The sharp (hash mark) indicates the presence of corneal ulcer. Healthy conjunctiva showed a C_t mean value of 30, while GAPDH C_t values ranged between 19-21. In the "Tβ4 protein E/S" column, the epithelial (E) and stromal (S) immunoreactivity scores are as follows: absent; +, slight; ++, intense; +++, very intense. The asterisk indicates realtime PCR: Threshold cycles (C_t) mean values. The mRNA expression is inversely proportional to the C_t, at normalization.

                                                      Tβ4      Tβ4
          Gender/    Signs    Symptoms              protein   mRNA
Patient     Age     (score)   (score)    VKC form     E/S     C(t)*
-------   -------   -------   --------   --------   -------   -----
   1       M/11       12#        12       tarsal    +++/++    17,32
   2       F/11        4          5       tarsal    +++/++    31,11
   3       F/25        5          5       mixed      ++/++    20,80
   4       M/12        6          7       mixed     +++/+++   18,63
   5       M/22        6          5       tarsal    +++/++    22,71
   6       M/14       11#        12       tarsal    +++/++    16,80
   7       M/12        8          3       tarsal    +++/++    21,74